SBS AmBush Taliban Leader

22.02.2008

Britain's Sun newspaper has reported on a Special Boat Service (SBS) operation against a high value target (HVT), a senior Taliban figure in Afghanistan.

Details of the operation are understandably scant, however the Sun has reported that Mullah Abdul Matin and several of his associates were ambushed as they traveled across Helmand Province. The SBS, on board a helicopter, swooped down, blocking the Taliban's convoy's path, causing a fierce but brief gun battle to break out, in which Matin and his 2 associates were killed.

This operation is the latest in a series of SBS actions against Taliban leadership. In May 2007, the SBS eliminated Mullah Dadullah in a large scale assault on his compound. Later, in July, an SBS Commando lost his life during a raid against a Taliban leader's compound at Nimruz, near Afghanistan's border with Iran.